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All Star Fan Balloting
Vote: Eric Staal, Justin Williams, and Cam Ward are on the ballot.
Feel free to fill in your favorite Canes elsewhere - maybe Rod Brind'Amour, Matt Cullen, or Cory Stillman?

Vote early and often.

I would add Erik Cole to that list, but he is conspicuously missing from the drop down of players. I mean, Craig Adams is the first name for the eastern conference and they forget Erik Cole?

Update: All of the players appear to be in there now.

Tonight's lineup

Player
2 Glen Wesley (A)
4 Dennis Seidenberg
5 Frantisek Kaberle
7 Niclas Wallin
8 Matt Cullen
13 Ray Whitney
14 Brandon Sutter
16 Andrew Ladd
17 Rod Brind’Amour
18 Ryan Bayda
22 Mike Commodore
24 Scott Walker
27 Craig Adams
30 Cam Ward
32 Trevor Gillies
33 Brett Carson
37 Keith Aucoin
39 Patrick Dwyer
43 Noah Babin
47 John Grahame
49 Michael Leighton
51 Jeff Hamilton
53 Casey Borer
56 Jakub Petruzalek
61 Cory Stillman (A)

It looks like Hedican, Gleason, Forrest, Williams, Staal, Letowski, Cole, and LaRose are sitting. I don't think the "official" list sent by the Hurricanes is completely accurate. Three goalies are on the list and, even with that, there are four more skaters than should be allowed to sit on the bench.

It's nice to see Frankie on the roster though.

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Updated: Canes win 3-0! I figured out the extra scratches and verified it on the 'Canes site. A good win by the boys in red, despite the sluggish start. The Preds came out early fast and hard hitting and the Canes didn't really get things going until the second. Once they got it going, they pretty much had a handle on the rest of the game.

Very strong showing by Cam Ward - he looked calm and in control the entire game and made even the hardest saves look effortless. Casey Borer was very strong on both ends of the ice and started the scoring off, adding an assist later for the second goal. I also liked Sutter's play and Seidenberg. It was nice seeing early chemistry between Matt Cullen and Scott Walker.

The power play (well, all one chance) in the first didn't look impressive. In the latter half of the game, it was a different story. It looked dangerous and the Preds did a good job killing the penalties off.

Some side notes: Jordin Tootoo is a punk. Also, I had no idea that Shane Willis was out on the ice tonight, despite his late penalty. That pretty much sums up what kind of night he had. The only Preds I noticed consistantly were Tootoo, Erat, and Radulov. Radulov was everywhere it seemed. I remember Yonkman because his name is funny and he took a stupid penalty. He was charged with interference technically, but what he really did was swipe Aucoin (I think) across the face with the butt end of his stick as Keith tried to get past him deep into the zone.

The return of Cullen

So it has finally happened and Cullen is on his way back to Raleigh. In exchange we sent Andrew Hutchinson (who never really had a fair shake), prospect Joe Barnes (meh), and a third round pick. We have a bona fide third line center and it makes me wonder what the team has in store for Jeff Hamilton. Will he play on the third line? Will he play fourth line and get power play minutes?

I like the fact that we have some serious threats on the shootout now. Those lost points would have put us in the playoffs last year and I think they'll make a big difference this year too.